Wally wows No. 18 Tennessee

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Szczerbiak scores 34 in upset

Friday, November 20, 1998

BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Wally Szczerbiak celebrates a basket. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

OXFORD - It's still Wally's World here.

And after Miami University shocked No. 18 Tennessee 68-62 Thursday night, the world seem to revolve around Wally Szczerbiak for a little while.

There was Szczerbiak, who scored 34 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, in the middle of a couple thousand happy RedHawk fans who stormed the floor as time ran out. The other half of a crowd of 8,240 was still in the stands cheering wildly, as Szczerbiak exhorted them from atop the shoulders of a couple of students.

"It was a positive riot," said Szczerbiak.

Szczerbiak ran off the floor immediately after Miami upset then-No.12 Xavier last year. This time, he wasn't going to miss the party.

"I got caught in the stampede," Szczerbiak said. "I lived it up. It was a great win. I made sure I soaked it all in."

Szczerbiak brings the ball up. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

It was great moment: The Miami star, freshly proclaimed the best all-round player in the nation by Sports Illustrated, surrounded by a sea of fans in red and white.

"I'll never forget it," he said.

This victory was particularly sweet because Miami lost point guard Rob Mestas less than three minutes into the game with a knee injury. He will have an MRI today.

Szczerbiak carried Miami most of the game. But, in a critical stretch when the game seemed to be getting away from Miami, a couple of new guys, Jason Stewart and Jason Grunkemeyer, stepped up.

Stewart, who had 12 points, was the only other Miami player in double figures. And Damon Frierson, who was forced to play point guard last year because of Mestas' injury, stepped in again. Frierson had eight points, six assists and one turnover, playing against All-American Tony Harris (two points).

"I feel bad for Damon," MU coach Charlie Coles said. "I was getting a groove, then he has to go back to point. He did a great job. Harris had one field goal."

Rob Mestas hurt his knee on this layup. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

After Tennessee took a 52-47 lead. Stewart scored five straight points and Grunkemeyer made a three to give Miami new life and the lead.

"When you double Wally, we've got some guys who step up and make shots," Coles said. "We didn't have that last year."

The game, however, was a long way from over. Miami went up five on back-to-back Szczerbiak baskets after Grunkemeyer's three. But UT scored six straight points to take a 60-59 lead with 3:37 to go. Szczerbiak made a fade-away 15-footer, and Frierson, who hadn't scored in 19 minutes, hit to make it 63-60.

Then Coles called on some interesting strategy. He sent sophomore Mike Ensminger into the game to stop UT's C.J. Black, who led UT with 17 points, all of them inside.

"He told me to play hard and get a stop," Ensminger said.

Refiloe Lethunya shoots between two Vols. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

Ensminger's game is bump-and-shove defense. He and Black went to floor chasing a rebound on the first possession Ensminger was on the floor. The foul was on Ensminger. But Black got a technical for a right cross to Ensminger while he was on the floor.

"We lost our composure there," UT coach Jerry Green said. "I thought it was a baited deal. I'm not blaming the refs because it's C.J.'s fault."

Said Ensminger: "I wasn't going to retaliate. I wasn't going to do anything stupid, not when we're beating Tennessee."

Szczerbiak made both free throws to make it 65-62 with 2:36 left. Miami's defense took over from there. UT would not score again. Grunkemeyer hit a 12-footer with the shot clock running. That made it 67-62 with 41 seconds to go.

Good night, Vols.

Szczerbiak shoots over C.J. Black. (Ernest Coleman photo) | ZOOM |

"That was huge," Szczerbiak said. "They were pressuring him. Grunk doesn't like pressure too much. He likes to spot up and shoot. But he got open and you can't leave him open."

Shortly thereafter, Szczerbiak was in the middle of celebration.

"There were two main factors to this game," Tennessee coach Jerry Green said. "One was Wally Szczerbiak. He's a tremendous factor. Two was a stretch in the second half where we didn't play very good offense."

Tennessee, 2-2, is probably headed out of Top 25. Is Miami, 2-0, about to move in to it?

"That's a good question," Coles said. "I don't worry about the Top 25. . . . We're a good team. But I'll leave the predictions to players. I'm the guy who has to make the speeches in the locker room."

MIAMI NOTEBOOK: Mestas hurts other knee

TENNESSEE (62)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Yarbrough       28   3-9   0-0   1-3  0  0    7
Victor          33   4-7   4-7   4-8  2  3   12
Black           27  8-10   2-2   2-5  0  1   19
Ton Harris      35   1-7   0-0   1-6  5  4    2
Wharton         34   3-9   5-7   1-4  3  3   12
Lee             17   2-6   0-0   1-3  0  0    4
Green            2   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Baker            3   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  0    0
Tor Harris       3   0-1   0-0   0-0  0  1    0
Hathaway        18   1-2   4-6   2-4  0  0    6
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 22-51 15-22 12-33 10 12   62
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.431, FT-.682. 3-Point Goals:
3-20, .150 (Yarbrough 1-6, Black 1-2, Ton Harris
0-3, Wharton 1-5, Lee 0-4). Team rebounds: 6.
Blocked shots: 8 (Black 4, Yarbrough 3,
Hathaway). Turnovers: 17 (Wharton 6, Black 5,
Victor 3, Ton Harris 2, Lee). Steals: 2 (Victor
2).


MIAMI (68)
                      fg    ft    rb
               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tp
Estick          23   1-5   0-0   4-8  0  3    2
Szczerbiak      40 14-23   3-4  3-12  0  3   34
Lethunya        19   1-5   0-0   1-1  0  4    2
Mestas           3   1-1   1-1   0-0  0  0    3
Frierson        39   3-8   2-2   0-3  6  3    8
Grunkemeyer     16   2-3   0-0   0-0  0  1    5
Stewart         25  4-13   1-1   2-2  1  2   11
Taylor          20   1-7   0-0   0-1  0  1    3
Locklier         5   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  2    0
Ensminger       10   0-1   0-0   0-3  1  1    0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS         200 27-66   7-8 10-30  8 20   68
_______________________________________________


Percentages: FG-.409, FT-.875. 3-Point Goals:
7-27, .259 (Szczerbiak 3-9, Frierson 0-3,
Grunkemeyer 1-2, Stewart 2-8, Taylor 1-5). Team
rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 1 (Ensminger).
Turnovers: 11 (Szczerbiak 5, Estick 3, Frierson,
Lethunya, Taylor). Steals: 5 (Estick, Frierson,
Lethunya, Szczerbiak, Taylor).
__________________________________
Tennessee          30   32  -   62
Miami              37   31  -   68
__________________________________
Technical fouls: Tennessee 1 (Black).  A: 8,840.
Officials: Rusty Herring, Willie Guardiola,
Orlandis Poole.

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